


Do I Even Make a Sound?

by Redjay27



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, I just love these boys, I was also in the mood to write some langst, M/M, This is basically my take on what happened after the math scene in season 3, With a Happy Ending Though, so yeah this is pretty much all langst, they have such great character development potential
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 14:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11761626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redjay27/pseuds/Redjay27
Summary: No, it was better to quit while he was ahead. Avoid the pain and pretend that everything’s okay. Like he always did. Like he would continue to do because that’s who he was. Lance, the goofball. Lance, the jester. Lance, the hopeless romantic. Lance, the useless one. Lance, the forgotten one.Lance hugged his knees closer to him and he let out a sob. His chest felt heavy and his eyes hurt. He just wanted everything to stop. He wished he was back home. He wished he had never heard of Voltron or Galra or aliens or any of it. He wished he’d never found the blue lion.He wished he was needed.ORWhere Lance runs off all distraught after the math talk in season 3 and Keith chases him.





	Do I Even Make a Sound?

The door closed behind him and Lance stood stuck in place, staring at the ground. He tried to swallow the emotions that were threatening to spill out of him. He balled his hands into fists, trying with all his might to get himself under control. He knew it was no use. 

 

With one last glance at Keith’s door behind him Lance took off down the hallway. His feet banged against the floor, creating echos that radiated down the hall. His breath started to come out in huffs but he didn’t stop. Lance ran to the less used parts of the castle, needing more than anything to be alone. 

 

He felt the hot tears falling down his face before he even knew he was crying. With the back of his hand he tried to dry his face as he ran through the empty halls but it didn’t help. He’d known for awhile that his insecurities would eventually break through the dam that he’d built within himself. Going to see Keith was his last attempt to dispel the rising tide. He wasn’t sure what he wanted Keith to say and Lance had to admit that Keith did try to comfort him. But the voice in his head told him it was just to make him feel better; nothing Keith had said gave Lance the reason he needed to remain a paladin.

 

He didn’t want to give up being a paladin. He liked being a part of something that was bigger than him. Something that gave him a purpose. But, he also knew that they lived in reality. And the reality was that they were in the middle of a war and in war people got hurt. If someone got hurt because Lance was piloting a lion instead of Allura or Shiro then that was on him. 

 

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to be the odd one out. 

 

Lance stopped running in front of a random door when he had thought he’d gotten far enough away from the others. His legs burned and his lungs screamed for air. He entered the room to find a storage room of some sort. It wasn’t a large room and it was filled with stacks of  boxes and crates that looked like extra parts for the ship. Lance maneuvered his way through the boxes and crates, heading for the back of the room. When he reached the back wall he found a little space between two of the stacks and sat down, feeling secure enough to be alone with his doubts. 

 

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and burying his face into them. He could feel his tears staining his jeans but he didn’t care. Keith had said to not worry; that everything was going to work out, but was it? Lance couldn’t see any way around it. A team is only as strong as its weakest player and Lance knew that he was the weakest player. 

 

He remembered the moments when Blue wouldn’t let him in. He’d felt insecure about a lot of things in his life. Failing the simulations every week at the garrison hadn’t been a huge confidence booster. He had wondered secretly if Pidge and Hunk had wanted a different pilot. One who could make it through a simple simulation without crashing.

 

But nothing had been as heart wrenching as the moment Blue wouldn’t let him in. He had finally found something that he could pilot and pilot well. Something that understood his style and matched it perfectly. Something that he was good at. But in that moment the fear that had been idle since the garrison had crashed back into him. Had Blue finally had enough of him too?

 

If...no... _ when  _ Shiro took the black lion back, Lance would lose Red to Keith. There was no question about it. He had told Keith that he didn’t want to take Blue from Allura but that wasn’t what he was afraid of. He was afraid that if he tried to go back to Blue that he would be faced with rejection again. He couldn’t go through that again. The pain was simply too great. 

 

No, it was better to quit while he was ahead. Avoid the pain and pretend that everything’s okay. Like he always did. Like he would continue to do because that’s who he was. Lance, the goofball. Lance, the jester. Lance, the hopeless romantic. Lance, the useless one. Lance, the forgotten one. 

 

Lance hugged his knees closer to him and he let out a sob. His chest felt heavy and his eyes hurt. He just wanted everything to stop. He wished he was back home. He wished he had never heard of Voltron or Galra or aliens or any of it. He wished he’d never found the blue lion. 

 

He wished he was needed. 

 

Lance heard the door slide open and he looked up, startled. He quickly wiped his eyes with his jacket sleeve, not wanting whoever it was to see him like this. His insecurities were for him. No one else deserved that burden. He couldn’t see who it was from where he was sitting but he could hear them moving between the stacks of boxes. 

 

“Lance?” Keith’s voice called out. 

 

Lance felt his stomach twist as he realized who it was. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this but especially not Keith. What would he think? What would he say? 

 

“Lance, I know you’re in here.” Keith said with a sigh. Lance still didn’t answer, hoping that he would give up and look somewhere else. Lance should’ve known it wasn’t like Keith to quit. Moments later Lance saw Keith appear from around a stack of crates. It only took another few seconds for Keith to spot where Lance was currently sitting. In a voice softer than Lance was used to Keith said, “What’re you doing in here?” Lance didn’t answer but watched with puffy eyes as Keith closed the short distance between the two and knelt down in front of Lance.

 

Lance swallowed once before attempting to answer. “I was just...looking for something.” His voice came out shaky and cracked. He didn’t look at Keith, instead choosing to look at the ground between the two. He knew the lie wasn’t convincing. Even Keith being somewhat more oblivious than the other would be able to see right through him. 

 

“In what world would you expect me to believe that?” Keith asked, his voice still gentle.

 

Lance sniffed and wiped his eyes again. He didn’t respond to Keith, not knowing how to even start explaining to Keith how he felt. 

 

“Is this about the lions?” Keith asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. “Lance you have to talk to me...or at least look at me.”

 

Lance shifted his gaze upwards towards Keith’s face. His expression was concerned and...something else that Lance hadn’t seen before. Fine. If Keith wanted him to talk, he’d talk. 

 

“I don’t want to be left behind.” Lance blurted out.

 

“Left behind?” Keith asked. 

 

“Yeah.” Lance said, feeling the water start to build in his eyes again. “I’m not blind, Keith. I can see how important everyone on the team is. Everyone has their thing. Shiro is the leader, you’re Shiro’s right hand, Hunk is the mechanic, Pidge is the tech expert, Allura is the badass fighter and I’m...nothing…”

 

“That’s not true-”

 

“No, Keith! It is true!” Lance could feel himself getting angry at his own incompetence and the tears were freely flowing down his face again. He let go of his knees and lunged forward a little, grabbing onto the front of Keith’s shirt so Lance could yell in his face.“I don’t have a thing! If I leave the team loses nothing! I know that I should just step aside because someone might get hurt if I don’t! And it’s selfish that I don’t want to...I don’t want to give up being a paladin...not after everything that’s happened...not after I finally found a place where I belong…” Lance trailed off, his sobs overpowering not only his ability to speak, but also his anger. He felt the strength drain from his body. He dropped his head, the tears on his face dripping onto Keith’s pants. He clung to Keith’s shirt more out of desperation than anger now; like if he let go Keith and the rest of the team would just disappear, leaving him alone. 

 

Keith had listened calmly, letting Lance vent his anger and pain at him. Lance heard him take in a deep breath before he finally spoke. “Ya know, I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”

 

“W-what?” Lance said, looking up at Keith in surprise. 

 

“Back when we were chasing Lotor.” Keith explained. “If you hadn’t stopped me from splitting up the team...I would’ve chased him. I was new to flying black and angry about losing Shiro and...there’s no way around it. He would’ve captured the black lion and killed me. But he didn’t because you were there to stop me.” Keith had a warm expression on his face and Lance could feel something deep within him stir. Keith reached up and wiped a stray tear off of Lance’s cheek with his thumb. “And that’s only one example. I don’t think you’re as useless as you think you are. Lance, you are the last person on this team I would want replaced.”

 

Lance felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He stared at Keith like he was his lifeline. He didn’t know what he had expected Keith to say but it wasn’t that. He didn’t know what to say. He could barely even think. Keith looked like he was waiting for Lance to say something or start crying again or maybe yell at him again. So Lance did the only thing his body would allow him to do. 

 

He released Keith’s shirt from his grasp and shifted his weight forward slightly, wrapping his arms around Keith’s middle and burying his face in his shoulder. He could feel Keith tense up for a moment before relaxing. Lance took in Keith’s warmth and let his scent overpower his senses. 

 

“Thanks…” Lance mumbled into Keith’s shoulder. He could feel Keith’s arms wrap around him and pull him closer. Lance could hear the smile in Keith’s voice as he responded with one word that seemed to chase all of Lance’s doubts away:

 

“Always.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Any and all feedback you are willing to give is greatly appreciated and it makes me extremely happy.   
> Stay safe and I hope to see ya around!
> 
> ~Redjay


End file.
